Southern California -- this just in

Federal cop kills man, injures another in possible self-defense

An off-duty federal police officer shot two men -- one of them fatally -- at a strip mall in Modesto early Sunday, authorities said.

Modesto police have identified the shooter only as a federal police officer at the Defense Logistics Agency in Tracy, a facility better known as Sharpe Depot.

"We are not treating this as an officer-involved shooting, we're dealing with this as a shooting that happens to involve a federal employee," Lt. Rick Armendariz said.

The shooter's name is not being revealed by Modesto police officers, nor is he under arrest.

"We have not made any formal arrest on this case, mainly because we don't have enough information to move forward on any criminal arrests," Armendariz said.

The lack of an arrest is due to a lack of witness statements. In spite of the large crowd near the crime scene, many left before Modesto detectives could confirm the shooter's contention that he opened fire in self-defense.

Modesto police officers were trying to piece together details of the shooting at Standiford Avenue and Prescott Road on Sunday morning.

What began as a large fight about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, ended with gunshots and someone running to the door of O'Malley's Bar and Grill.

"He came running up to my door and told my bouncer he was an off-duty officer," said the bar's owner, John Boyatt.

The crime scene is extensive, with trails of blood snaking through the parking lot behind a fast-food restaurant.

"We're hoping that there were witnesses on the scene that could either corroborate this information or dispel this information," Armendariz said.